Miko Marks is an American Americana singer based in Oakland, California. She was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. She attended

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

. She later moved to San Francisco. Marks was named ''Best New Country Artist'' at the 2006

New Music Weekly ''New Music Weekly'' is a nationally distributed trade magazine for the US radio and music industries. Following the tradition of Bill Gavin Bill Gavin (November 6, 1907 – January 27, 1985) was an American radio personality and publisher of th ...

Awards.

Career

Marks released her debut single, "Freeway Bound," in 2005. It was followed by her debut album, also titled ''Freeway Bound'', which was released on September 13, 2005. Three further singles ("Kickin' Back," "Mama," and "Don't Come Cryin' to Me") were released from the album in 2006. "Mama" featured Marks' first music video, which included a guest appearance by

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

assuming the title role. Her second studio album, ''It Feels Good'', followed in 2007 after the release of lead-off single "Locked and Loaded." Both were produced by

Ron Cornelius Ronald Dean Cornelius (February 14, 1945 – August 18, 2021) was a session musician and producer who has played on albums by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Al Kooper and Loudon Wainwright III. He was also the president of Gateway Entertainment which ...

and released under the Mirrome Records imprint. In his review of ''It Feels Good'', Stewart Mason of

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album 3 and 1/2 stars, drawing comparisons to the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

and

Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine) ...

while commenting that the album "clicks on every level, making it a solidly enjoyable neo-traditionalist country listen." In 2021, Marks released “Our Country'',''” her first new album in over a decade. The album's lead single and music video are "We Are Here". In October 2022, Marks performed on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

for the first time. According to CMT, her performance received two standing ovations. In October of 2023, Marks collaborated with the Fisk Jubilee Singers for an updated version of her song "Jubilee"

Discography

Studio albums

Extended Plays

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Site

Instagram

Spotify
21st-century African-American women singers American country singer-songwriters Living people African-American country musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Country musicians from Michigan African-American songwriters Singer-songwriters from Michigan Musicians from Flint, Michigan {{US-country-singer-stub